Silk road project china

For the southwestern city of Kunming, China's plan to extend a high-speed rail link 3,000 km (1,875 miles) south to Singapore is already a boon: pristine expressways, a gleaming station and something of a real estate boom, as young buyers crowd property showrooms. In Laos, work has yet to start on what should be the first overseas leg of a rail line stretching throughout Southeast Asia. The country, one of the region's poorest, could struggle to finance even part of the $7 billion cost and has yet to agree financial terms with China. From Laos, the railway would enter Thailand. But Beijing's negotiations have soured there as well, in part over financing, adding to a growing headache for China and highlighting the sort of problems Beijing may face as it develops its economic highways beyond Southeast Asia and across Asia under its "One Belt, One Road" project. The ambitious plan to build land, sea and air routes reaching across the continent and beyond was announced by President Xi … [Read more...] about On southwestern fringe, China’s Silk Road ambitions face obstacles

President Xi Jinping is so devoted to his Silk Road project for China to deepen economic ties across Asia that he recently had top Communist officials attend a "study" session on the millennia-old history of the route. References to the initiative, launched by Xi in 2013 and known as the "belt and road" plan, have become ubiquitous in China, down to even in-flight magazines on its aircraft. As part of the Communist party boss’s vision of moving China beyond a century of humiliation at the hands of foreigners, the plan would strengthen trade and investment ties, especially with central and southeast Asian neighbors. In many ways, the idea makes sense. Those regional neighbors need trillions of dollars’ worth of investment to build roads, railways, utilities and airports. And China has surplus industrial capacity, along with access to capital. Yet the recent failure of a deal for China to help build and finance a rail project in Thailand -- a nation at the heart of the old … [Read more...] about Xi’s Silk Road dream for China hits a speed-bump in Thailand

A view from Sri Lanka’s capital of land curving into a sea once famed for its pearls now shows giant yellow digger trucks piling boulders. It’s another show of China’s increasing global influence. Once fought over by European powers, Sri Lanka is now benefiting from the attention of Asia’s biggest economies, drawn to its Indian Ocean location along some of the world’s busiest sea-lanes. The Chinese-financed $1.4 billion “Colombo Port City” project is its largest foreign-funded investment on record. President Xi Jinping, who has sought to restore China’s prestige and historical links along the “maritime Silk Road” through Southeast and South Asia, arrived in Colombo today, shortly after a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Deepening ties with East Asia would reduce the role of neighbor India in Sri Lanka’s trade, and aid its recovery from 26 years of civil war. “China’s growing influence must surely … [Read more...] about China maritime silk road Is Sri Lanka’s boon as Xi visits

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged $40 billion to set up a Silk Road Fund that will finance the construction of infrastructure linking markets across Asia. The fund’s goal is to “break the connectivity bottleneck” in Asia, the official Xinhua News Agency cited Xi as saying during a meeting with officials from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Tajikistan. Representatives from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization were also present, according to Xinhua. Providing financial support for neighboring nations bolsters China’s push to expand its influence in Asia. Xi first proposed reviving the centuries-old Silk Road trading route a year ago during a visit to Kazakhstan, with the plan envisioning an economic cooperation bloc through to the Mediterranean. The Silk Road fund will be open and welcome investors from Asia and beyond to actively participate in projects, … [Read more...] about China’s Xi pledges $40 billion for Silk Road infrastructure fund

A centuries-old template for China’s economic influence may be the best idea the nation’s current-day leaders have for addressing a shortfall in growth. China reported on Wednesday that the economy expanded the least since the 2009 global recession last quarter, at a 7 percent pace. Last time round, policy makers unleashed a record credit expansion that’s left a legacy of unused properties and rising bad debts. Now, President Xi Jinping and his colleagues are focused instead on restructuring initiatives, including steps to bolster the role of private enterprise. With overseas demand for Chinese products waning, Xi’s grand plan is to deepen ties with Asian countries along the Silk Road commerce and migration routes of the Middle Ages. Through initiatives including a $40 billion Silk Road Fund, and the $100 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank now taking shape, Xi aims to fund projects that will aid development in what’s already some of the … [Read more...] about China follows Silk Road in search for land of fast growth